PI Law · Reference Guide
Definitions & Best Practices
Caller status definitions and operating standards that keep PI marketing, intake, and KPI interpretation consistent.
Caller Status Types
Use caller status to keep lead reporting clean and route calls correctly.
Intake Lead
New caller with potential PI matter; not yet qualified.
Count as lead until case fit is determined.
Prospect Client
Qualified or likely qualified caller who may become a signed case.
Track speed-to-contact, consult, retainer, and follow-up.
Signed Client
Retainer completed or confirmed representation.
Moves from lead funnel into case pipeline.
Existing Client
Current or former client calling about an existing matter.
Exclude from new-lead KPIs unless new incident.
Opposing Party
Adverse party, insurer, defense, or representative of another party.
Operational routing; not marketing performance.
Vendor / Provider / Court Contact
Medical provider, records, court, lien holder, vendor, referral partner, or service provider.
Route to operations or case team.
Referral Source
Attorney, past client, provider, or partner referring a potential case.
Track separately; valuable but different from paid marketing.
Spam / Wrong Number
Solicitation, robocall, unrelated inquiry, wrong number.
Exclude from conversion and cost-per-lead calculations when possible.
Best Practices
Recommended operating standards for PI marketing and intake teams.
Daily Hot Lead Review
Review all AI-flagged hot leads, high-value risk calls, missed retainer opportunities, and unworked callbacks every business day.
Speed-to-Lead Standard
Treat under five minutes as the gold standard for new digital leads and missed calls. Faster response usually wins when prospects contact multiple firms.
Minimum Follow-Up Cadence
Require at least 3–5 attempts across phone, SMS, and email before moving a qualified lead to inactive, unless the lead opts out or is declined.
Decline Reason Discipline
Every declined lead should have a reason: no injury, no liability, outside geography, statute issue, already represented, low damages, or outside practice area.
High-Value Escalation Rule
Any severe injury, hospitalization, surgery, commercial vehicle, death, child injury, multiple parties, or clear liability should trigger immediate senior review.
Clean KPI Hygiene
Separate new leads, existing clients, vendors, wrong numbers, referral calls, and spam so marketing performance is not distorted.
Coaching-First QA
Use call analysis as a coaching tool. Focus on patterns: empathy, control, fact gathering, commitment, process clarity, and follow-up ownership.
How to use this guide
- Diagnose with red/yellow KPIs to find whether the issue is demand, attribution, intake response, lead quality, or case conversion.
- Validate using AI call classifications to confirm whether the dashboard result reflects marketing or call-handling leakage.
- Act: assign owners, coach reps, update routing, refine campaigns, and review the next reporting cycle.